Flooding grips southeast Europe

Several homes in Sarajevo have been evacuated as the rivers continued to rise. [AFP]

Heavy downpours have plagued Southeast Europe over the past few days.

In the last 24 hours alone, 61mm of rain fell in Sarajevo and 128mm was recorded in Belgrade. This is more rain than the

Serbian capital would expect in the entire month of May.

This has filled the rivers to critical levels. The Miljacka river is usually a tiny stream, but after the recent storms has grown to a muddy, wild river, which is 2.5 metres deep.

Several homes in Sarajevo have been evacuated as the rivers continued to rise.

The rain has been caused by an area of low pressure which became stuck across the region. Unfortunately, this system is not expected to move away over the next few days, so more heavy rain is expected.